


Fulfilling A Promise

by animedevilluvzyuri



Category: Black Clover - 田畠裕基 | Tabata Yuki, Fairy Tail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 21:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13303956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animedevilluvzyuri/pseuds/animedevilluvzyuri
Summary: A one-shot that is part of a bigger story. Captain of the Crimson Lions Squad, Mereoleona challenges Noelle Dreyar of Fairy Tail to a one-on-one fight. Warning: contains spoilers.





	Fulfilling A Promise

**A/N: Yeah, this is just a random idea I had recently and it’s actually a part of a story I’m planning to come up with. Think of this as an OVA of some sorts. I don’t have the whole thing planned out but this fight keeps reoccurring in my head. To clarify a few things: Noelle is a second-generation dragon slayer known as the Sea Dragon Slayer, she was delivered to Fairy Tail as a baby for unknown reasons, Noelle grows up without knowing she is of nobility, she has mostly gone through the canon (and filler) arcs of the Fairy** **Tail series, and Noelle views Laxus as her older brother and looks up to him as well. With that said, I hope all of you will enjoy this one-shot and the story (hopefully) soon to follow. With that said, One Piece opening 20 as the OVA opening song.**

**(SPOILER FOR ANYONE WHO HASN’T READ THE FAIRY TAIL MANGA: Yes, I’m aware God Serena has Sea Dragon King slayer magic).**

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and/or Black Clover. They belong their original owners. The OC that appears here belong to me.

Fulfilling A Promise

There was a loud wailing echoing throughout Magnolia’s cold night air in the year X769. This wailing was coming from a small basket placed in front of the Fairy Tail guild. In this basket was a small infant girl with a single piece of paper laid down next to her and a locket. The door to the guild opened a person of small stature came outside. “What on Earthland is making that noise?”

**Fairy Tail guild master: Makarov Dreyar**

Makarov looked in front and saw the basket and the young infant. Curiosity peeked through him as he walked toward the basket. The guild master stopped in front and was surprised to see the infant. “Now who left you here?”

“Grandpa?”

Makarov looked back to see his seven-year-old grandson Laxus and several other members of Fairy Tail. Laxus and some of the other members came outside to see what was going on. “Laxus.”

The young Laxus ran over to his grandfather’s side and saw the infant girl as well. “What’s a baby doing out here?”

Another member had a similar question. “And what’s a baby doing at the front of our guild?”

Those were two very good questions Makarov wanted to know. As a start, he took a quick look at the locket and opened it to see a picture of a young woman. No doubt it could be this infant’s mother. Makarov closed the locket and set it back down to where it was before and then grabbed the paper next to the infant girl. He saw two lines written on it. “Noelle. This must be the child’s name and it appears she was born on November fifteenth.”

Some of the members were appalled by learning this. “Seriously? This kid was born just a week and a half ago?”

“How awful. How could a parent abandon their child like that?”

Laxus seemed uncertain by this strange situation and turned to his grandfather. “What are we going to do grandpa?”

This child before Makarov only raised more questions but that didn't matter to him now. What did matter was the crying infant before him. He set the piece of paper down and…proceeded to stretch his face to make funny faces at her. Along with the funny faces, Makarov also made goofy noises to grab the infant's attention. It seemed to have worked since the crying came slowly to a stop and saw Makarov continuing to make funny faces at her. The crying soon became laugher and she smiled. The guild master stopped and smiled back at the infant as he carefully picked her up. "It matters not why this child was placed in front of our guild." He turned around to face the other members. "Whether that person's reason is justified or not, it does not matter to us. Obviously, this person thought this child would be in better hands and we will honor that. From this night forward, Noelle will be part of our family. So, you lot better take responsibility in looking after her as well I."

The guild members smiled at their master’s words and would gladly welcome the infant to their guild. Laxus was most excited since he wouldn’t be the youngest anymore. He went over to Noelle’s side and smiled brightly at her. “Welcome to Fairy Tail, Noelle.” One of the members took Noelle off of Makarov’s hands and they all returned to the guild. Makarov was about to head back as well when something caught his eye. He looked at the direction and swore he saw something. “Grandpa! Are you coming back inside?!”

Makarov took a few seconds longer to see what was there but it appeared whoever it was left. Perhaps it was the person who left Noelle and entrusted her to them. “I am. This old man thought he saw something just now.” Makarov took one last look and went back inside the guild.

**Twenty-four years later**

was a locket being worn around her neck, sapphire earrings and a light purple colored Fairy Tail guild mark on her left shoulder.

**Fairy Tail member: Noelle Dreyar**

Up in one of the viewing balconies, several people and cats were spectators. One of them couldn’t help but feel a little worried about one of their guildmates. “Is Noelle going to be alright? I mean, that woman below just challenged her out of the blue.”

**Fairy Tail member: Lucy Heartfilia**

Another just laughed at the scene before him. “No problem. These Magic Knight guys aren’t probably that strong anyway. That Leone person doesn’t have a chance.”

**Fairy Tail member: Natsu Dragneel**

One of the other members was annoyed by his pronunciation. “First off, her name is Mereoleona, flame for brains.”

**Fairy Tail member: Gray Fullbuster**

Natsu glared at Gray glared back. They were going to start throwing lame insults at each other again when another voice interrupted them. "Knock it off you two!" They both straightened out immediately and had a terrified looked in their eyes when looked over at the one who yelled out them.

**Fairy Tail member: Erza Scarlet**

Erza was giving them a death glare to make them behave and it was working very well. She seemed to get her message across and looked back at Noelle and her challenger. She studied Mereoleona carefully. “You should know by now Natsu that these Magic Knight captains are stronger then you realize.”

One of the cats became as worried as Lucy. “How strong do you think they are?”

**Fairy Tail member: Happy**

Erza narrowed her eyes at Mereoleona and made her assumption. “This is just a guess but I would say they’re this kingdom’s equivalent of the Ten Wizard Saints.”

Gray and everyone was shocked to hear that. “Wait, so they’re just as strong as Gramps then?” It’s more than just Makarov. That would mean they were also on par with Jura and the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar.

The girl next to Gray shared his frightened reaction. “Oh, no.”

**Fairy Tail member: Juvia Lockser**

One of them, however, didn’t seem as worried as the rest. “That’s it? We had a tougher fight with Alvarez. Compared to them, this is nothing.”

**Fairy Tail member: Gajeel Redfox**

Even if he had a point, the girl standing next to him thought otherwise. "Yeah, but, that doesn't exactly mean they're weak. They're still strong even by our kingdom's standards. Not to mention, we still don't know why some of their wizards came over to Fiore and attacked Noelle."

**Fairy Tail member: Levy McGarden**

The cat standing on the ledge in front of Gajeel also gave a second look at the captain. “In other words, this’ll be a difficult fight for Noelle.”

**Fairy Tail member: Panther Lily**

The third of the cats became unsure about the matchup. “I hope she’ll be alright.”

**Fairy Tail member: Carla**

The youngest of the group could only hope Noelle wouldn’t be too badly injured in the fight. “Please, be careful Noelle.”

**Fairy Tail member: Wendy Marvell**

“She’ll have to be.” Everyone looked at the fourth cat among them. The fourth cat was rust colored with several splotches of white fur on her body. She wore a white blouse, red skirt, and a red ribbon wrapped around her right ear.

**Fairy Tail member: Alice**

Alice looked over to the last remaining member of the group. “Don’t you feel the same way about her?” The last member only stared at Noelle while his arms were crossed.

**Fairy Tail member: Laxus Dreyar**

Laxus said nothing about the whole thing. What he did know was that he had confidence in his younger sister. _“Did you hear all of that, Noelle?”_

Back at the arena, Noelle had a nervous expression as she did indeed hear what Erza said about the Magic Knight Captains. _“So, this woman is just as strong as Grandpa? Then why is someone like her wanting to fight me? Natsu, Laxus, Erza, or even Gajeel would’ve been better picks than me. So why did she challenge me anyway?”_ She decided to dismiss those thoughts. _“It doesn’t matter. I’m representing Fairy Tail and I’ll show this lion woman what we can do.”_

Over on the other side of the colosseum, the rest of the Magic Knight captains and their squads were in their own view balconies. One of the captains let out a bored yawn. "Can we get on with this? I got better things to do than watch whatever this crap is."

**Captain of the Black Bulls: Yami Sukehiro**

Only one of the Black Bull members was curious about this strange matchup. "So, is anyone else wondering why Sisleon challenged that girl?"

**Member of the Black Bulls: Asta**

Asta heard no reply from the other members and looked over toward them only to see they were busy with their own thing whether it would be eating a large sum of food, mumbling about something to themselves, drinking a bottle of wine, ignoring everything else while staring at a photo of their younger sister, or just cowering behind the ledge of the balcony.

**Members of the Black Bulls: Charmy Pappitson, Gordon Agrippa, Vanessa Enoteca, Gauche Adlai, and Grey**

Only a few of the Black Bull members were actually interested in the other wizards. One of them was punching the air in excitement while lightning was sparking out from his fists. “Hey, hey, do you think I can fight one of those wizards? They look like they’ll give me a fun fight.”

**Member of the Black Bulls: Luck Voltia**

Another of the members was paying more attention to Lucy and Erza. “I have to say; the blonde and redhead are quite the pair of beauties. I’ll have to remember to ask them out on a date after this is over.”

**Member of the Black Bulls: Finral Roulacase**

The next member had a fiery look in his eyes as he couldn’t wait for the match to start. “Just you wait, that guild wizard or whatever they’re called is going to see what a Magic Knight captain like Captain Mereoleona can do!”

**Member of the Black Bulls: Manga Swing**

The last of the Black Bulls seemed to be the only one to weigh in what the match will be like and how it'll turn out. _“I don’t know why Mereoleona is wasting her time with this girl. There doesn’t seem to be anything special about her and yet…”_ He looked over to the other Magic Knight Captains and their squads. _“Mostly everyone else is interested in what one of these…Fiore Kingdom wizards are capable of. I don’t see the point since Mereoleona is just going to tear the girl apart. This fight will be over quickly.”_

**Member of the Black Bulls: Zora Ideale**

As said Zora said before, all the other Magic Knight Captains and their squad members were waiting to see what one of the representatives of the Fiore Kingdom is capable of against one of their own.

**Captain of Azure Deer: Lil Bowamoltie**

**Captain of the Green Mantis: Jack the Ripper**

**Captain of the Coral Peacocks: Dorothy Ansoit**

**Captain of the Blue Rose: Charlotte Roselei**

One of the members from the Blue Rose kept glancing at one of Fairy Tail guild members and was quite curious about her. _“That woman in armor…”_

**Member of the Blue Rose: Sol Marron**

One of the members of the Crimson Lions kept a close eye on his Captain. Or in a better term, his older sister. _“Sis, just why are you fighting this girl? What made you want to fight her in the first place?”_

**Member of the Crimson Lions: Leopold Vermillion**

Several of the Silver Eagle members paid particularly close attention to Noelle.

**Members of the Silver Eagles: Nebra Silva and Solid Silva.**

Their Captain paid extra attention to Noelle in the arena and narrowed his eyes at her. _“This girl…who are you really?”_

**Captain of the Silver Eagles: Nozel Silva**

Only one of the Magic Knight Captains seemed to have a great interest in not only Noelle but the other Fairy Tail members as well. He was quite looking forward to seeing what the girl with Mereoleona can do. “This’ll be entertaining. Not once in our history have we witnessed two people from different countries about to battle.”

**Captain of the Golden Dawn: William Vangeance**

Vangeance glanced back at one of his squad members. “What do you think of this, Klaus?”

**Member of the Golden Dawn: Klaus Lunette**

Klaus adjusted his glasses slightly before giving his option about the whole situation. “It’s hard for me to say, sir. While these Fiore wizards seem to be commoners, their level of magic says otherwise. It is to be believed they’re just as strong as our Magic Knight members.”

The member next to him became confused by his explanation. “Is that really true? Even that young girl with the blue hair?”

**Member of the Golden Dawn: Mimosa Vermillion**

Mimosa turned her attention to another member. “What do you think about them, Yuno?”

**Member of the Golden Dawn: Yuno**

Yuno just kept quiet to himself which made Mimosa giggle awkwardly. He did have a question to ask to a certain someone hovering around his shoulder. "What do you think, Sylph? About this...FairyTail?”

The small spirit seemed to be disinterested about the other wizards. “Don’t care much for them, actually. I will say that I’ve never heard of fairies with tails before.”

Up above on the colosseum, one lone man was standing with his arms crossed and smiled as he could wait to see what one of these Fiore wizards can do. He practically had stars in his eyes just thinking about it. _“What a magnificent opportunity! I wonder what kind of magic these people from Fiore have?!”_

**Wizard King: Julius Novachrono**

Back at the arena, Mereoleona grinned wickedly at Noelle. “Hey, brat. You finally ready to fight.” 

Noelle growled at the Captain and glared angrily at her. “My name isn’t brat. It’s Noelle!”

Mereoleona didn’t care about that either way. All she did care about was how the girl can fight. “I don’t give a damn about who you are. Just show me how strong you Fiore Kingdom wizards are! Don’t disappoint me, brat!”

That was the last straw for Noelle as she raised her arms and closed her hands tightly. “Oh, I’ll give you a show alright. It’ll be about me kicking your ass!” Water spontaneously spiraled around her. Noelle crouched slightly as the water enveloped her body and launched herself directly at the Captain. **“Sea Dragon’s Aqua Jet!”** Mereoleona just stood still before taking Noelle’s attack to the stomach and pushed her. Noelle broke out of her attack and prepared her next one since she was close to her opponent. Noelle put both her arms back and the water began to stream out of her arms. She then jumped back toward her opponent while swinging her arms forward with the water following suit. **“Sea Dragon’s Wing Attack!”** The two streams struck the captain and Noelle were up close and personal. She pulled her left arm back and the water covered her hand. **“Sea Dragon’s Crushing Fang!”** Noelle swiped with her attack at Mereoleona and struck her. Noelle used the momentum of her last attack and turned her body around while raising her right leg. The water began circling around from the sole of her boot. **“Sea Dragon’s Claw!”** She kicked the Captain at the side with tremendous force and sent Mereoleona away from her. Noelle set her foot back down and took in a deep breathe. **“Sea Dragon’s Roar!”** She opened her mouth and let out a powerful water-based breath attack. The breath attack traveled quickly to where the Captain was and blasted her head-on with water spraying everywhere as an after effect.

After witnessing that display of attacks, Vangeance was already impressed by what he saw. _“How interesting. She can perform spell attacks without using a Grimoire. The same must be true for the others with her. However…”_

Asta was blown away by seeing Noelle's attacks. He was beyond in awe of seeing her magic. "Whoa, that's so awesome! She did a lot of those attacks!"

Even Zora had to admit he had to give Noelle credit but he wasn't as impressed as the others were. _“Stupid girl. Do you really think attacks like those will work on someone like her?”_

Erza thought the same while hearing Natsu’s cheering. She had a bad feeling about Noelle’s opponent. Noelle had similar thoughts as she saw her opponent just standing and not doing anything. _“Something doesn’t feel right here. I felt my attacks hitting her but it doesn’t feel like they’re not doing that much damage to her. It almost feels like…I’m fighting Gajeel again.”_

“What was that supposed to be?” Noelle gasped slightly as she saw a large column of fire erupt out from Mereoleona. Even from the distance away from her, Noelle could feel how intensely hot the flames were. The fire subsided and Mereoleona was glaring menacingly at the sea dragon slayer.

Lucy noticed something about the captain that surprised her and everyone else. “Noelle’s attacks didn’t damage her?! How?!”

Erza was right all along. She thought it was strange that the captain took Noelle’s attacks while doing nothing. Now the next question was…how did she not take any damage in the first place? _"She must be doing something if she's not taking any damage at all._ _Some kind of protection magic maybe?”_

She wasn’t too off the mark as Zora knew this would happen. _"Mana Skin. A reinforcement magic that coats the entire body for protection. To make matters worse for the girl, Mereoleona's Mana Skin is at a level_ _all of its own, surpassing it. She has no chance of winning this."_

Mereoleona dusted herself off and felt how dry her clothes were now after taking Noelle’s attacks. “Don’t tell me that was the best you had because if it was, that was just pathetic.” She stopped dusting and leered at the younger girl. “If you call those attacks, then I’ll show you what a real attack looks like!” Now it was her turn to attack as she crouched slightly and then vanished. It took Noelle a few seconds to register what happened before she saw Mereoleona right in front of her with her right arm pulled back. Mereoleona’s Grimoire opened and shined brightly. The fire ignited fiercely around her hand as she clenched it tightly. **“FLAME MAGIC…”** The Captain punched Noelle right in the stomach with tremendous force behind it and the fire erupted out of the attack. **“CALIDUS BRACHIUM!"**

Her attack sent Noelle flying away from her while she screamed painfully. When Noelle crashed into the ground, an explosion occurred. “NOELLE!” Wendy and the other members were frightened for Noelle’s safety as she did take a very powerful attack from her opponent.

Mereoleona chuckled smugly as she got her point across. Over to where Noelle was, she was in great pain. The most of it where her opponent had struck her. She couldn’t believe the insane strength the older woman had. _“Damn…she hits like a train. A lot of them.”_ Noelle rolled over to her front and struggled to stand up. As she did, something felt wrong in her stomach and her cheeks blew up as she threw up. It was unsightly for everyone to see. After throwing up a second time, it seemed her stomach had settled down and tried to stand up again. Noelle finally did as she wiped her mouth with her hand while breathing heavily.

Mereoleona was impressed her younger opponent could stand up after taking an attack like that. “So, what did you think brat? What did it feel like experiencing the fires of hell?”

To her surprise, she heard Noelle laugh at that. “Fires of hell you say? Your fire doesn’t compare to a real hellfire I’d experience from before.” She was referring to the Fire Dragon, Atlas Flame back when she tried to fight him with Laxus at Crocus. With that said, her attack still hurt like hell.

Mereoleona narrowed her eyes at the girl and scoffed. “Is that so? You think you can fight me after learning what you’re up against?”

Noelle grinned confidently at the older woman. “I wouldn’t have made it this far if I ran away from every tough fight I came across. You’re insanely powerful, so what? You’re no different than any other opponent Fairy Tail fought before.”

A bold claim from her but it would take more than words to convince the Captain otherwise. “Then prove it with your strength and not with your words!” She wasted no time in rushing where Noelle was. She would make sure the younger girl would feel the full force of her attack again. However, Noelle was ready this time for her. Mereoleona appeared in front of the younger girl again and pulled her arm back to perform her attack again. **"FLAME MAGIC: CALIDUS BRAC-"** This time, she saw Noelle disappear and saw droplets of water. “Huh?”

**“Sea Dragon’s Jet Stream!”** Water coming out from the soles of her boots propelled Noelle out of her opponent’s attack and bent her knees to change direction upwards. Everyone from the Magic Knight squads didn’t expect her to do such a thing. Noelle was now directly above Mereoleona. **“Sea Dragon’s Roar!”** She unleashed her breath attack at the Captain and with the downward force, it gained a significant boost in power.

However, it wasn’t going to be that easy. “Nice try brat!” A column of fire erupted from Mereoleona and collided with Noelle’s attack. The Captain’s counterattack easily overcame the other and shot up straight into the sky. The fire ceased and Mereoleona looked up to assess the damaged she’d done to her opponent but didn’t find a trace of her.

**“Sea Dragon’s Tide Ripper”** She heard Noelle's voice and turned to the direction where she heard it only to see multiple water blades coming at her. Mereoleona growled in annoyance as she swiped her arm across with fire coming out to evaporate the water. The fire dispersed and the Captain saw Noelle still in the air with small spurts of water coming off her soles away from her. Before the Captain's attack struck her, Noelle put both of her legs in front and propelled herself away from her opponent to safety. She then used this brief opening to launch a counterattack. More water circled around Noelle's right leg and kicked in the direction of the older woman. Out from the kick emerged more of the water blades from before.

Mereoleona growled again and swiped her hand upward with fire coming out to cancel out the attack. This provided Noelle another chance to attack. She spread her arms apart and opened her hands as small orbs of water formed in her palms. **“Sea Dragon’s Depth Charge”**

Noelle threw multiple water orbs not at Mereoleona but around her. The fire ceased and the Captain saw the orbs and was about to destroy them but they started to glow and then multiple explosions occurred around her. Zora was having a hard time trying to figure out what was Noelle’s strategy. _“Why is she still attacking her? Actually, the better question is why is she still fighting her? Doesn’t she realize her attacks won’t do anything to that woman?”_

Noelle sent several more water orbs at where her opponent was and hoped that would be enough to distract her long enough. Contrary to what Zora thought before, Noelle did have an idea of what to do even if she didn’t know about her opponent’s Mana Skin. _“If I’m fighting someone similar to Gajeel, then I’ll have to beat her like Gajeel which means…”_ She lowered her body forward and the water underneath her soles fired up. Noelle propelled herself right at Mereoleona. “I’ll just have to hit harder!” She spread her arms apart and the water began to circle around them. “With water cycling at one end and water cycling at the other…” A roar could be heard amid of the water explosions and fire immediately appeared that swept away the remaining water orbs. Noelle put her legs out in front just in front of the inferno. “These cycles shall join to create…” As the fire vanished to reveal an annoyed Mereoleona, Noelle clapped her hands together and two very large streams of water closed in on the Captain and encapsulated her while swirling around. **“Sea Dragon’s Tyrant Whirlpool!”**

Noelle finally landed on the ground in front of her attack as she had a short amount of time to perform her next attack. “NOW…” She slightly crouched while extending her right arm back upward and her left arm downward. The water began to circle around her and her arms. **“DRAGON SLAYER’S SECRET ART!”** Noelle pulled her left arm back to her right while raising them both up and the water began to circle around her arms. She yelled as she swiped both of her arms down and then up with the water following. As it did, the water increased in volume drastically as it collided with her previous attack and shot up into the sky as a raging vortex. **AZURE WRATH: TIDAL SURGE VORTEX!”**

Almost everyone in the colosseum watched in awe of Noelle’s attack as a response. With an attack like that, Noelle was sure it would do some damage to her opponent. A raging fireball erupting out from her attack wasn’t what she was hoping to see. She jumped back several feet away from her failed attack and saw Mereoleona land to the ground with a small crater formed around her. Noelle was distraught at the sight that her opponent still seemed uninjured even with everything she'd thrown at her. Even her strongest attack didn't seem to have that much of an effect. Mereoleona stretched her neck while there were slight cracking noises as a result. “Not bad brat but you’re still lacking in power. You’re going to need a lot more then you hope if you ever want a shot of putting so much as a scratch on me. So far, I’m not impressed if that’s still all you’ve got.”

Noelle gritted her teeth in frustration. It appears she had no choice but to use _that_ power. “Alright then.” She put up her arms to her sides and closed her hands tightly. “Let’s see how well you handle against this.” A single spark appeared from her head. Luck’s own spark appeared and he grew instantly excited. Noelle yelled as lightning appeared around her body and the water swirled around her. **_“CHANGE MODE! LIGHTNING SEA DRAGON!”_**

Her transformation astounded the Magic Knights and their captains. Klaus was at a loss for words of what he was seeing before him. _“She can utilize two different kinds of elemental magic at once?”_

Even Natsu was surprised Noelle could do the same transformation as he and Gajeel. “Wait, what? Since when could she do something like that?”

Gray couldn’t believe it took him this long to realize this. “Seriously? She used that during the final round of the Grand Magic Games.” He remembered the first time seeing Noelle’s new power on Chelia. Gajeel also recalled seeing Noelle use it on the same Tartaros demon that almost killed Laxus and the Thunder Legion.”

Seeing his sister use this again reminded Laxus the first time she’d ask him to help her attain this power while they were training for the Grand Magic Games. _“Please, Laxus. I need this. If Natsu can do it, then I should be able to do it too. I want to get stronger and this is the only way I know how.”_ It took many attempts but Noelle was finally able to attain the form he saw before him.

Before Mereoleona, it was quite a sight and brought forth a confident grin. “Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. Let’s see what you can do in this form brat!”

Noelle was going to do a lot then show. She took a step back and pulled back her arm. Her hand closed tightly as lightning and water surrounded her fist. **_“LIGHTING SEA DRAGON’S…”_**

Mereoleona did the exact same stance but she wasn’t going to wait around. She wanted to see how powerful her opponent was in this new form of hers. **“FLAME MAGIC…”**

Both wizards launched themselves at each other and threw their arms forward once they reached the center. ** _“_ CALIDUS BRACHIUM _/IRON FIST!”_** Their fists collided with each other and two massive outbursts of fire and water clad in lightning appeared. The two opposing attacks seemed to try to overtake the other but to no avail on either end.

Mereoleona grunted as she could tell there was a large difference between this attack and the previous attacks Noelle did from before. She was surprised her fire magic wasn’t burning the younger girl’s attack away. Probably because it was much more powerful due the boost the lightning gave it. However, she wasn’t going to be outdone by this attack. **_“LIGHTNING SEA DRAGON’S…”_** Mereoleona gasped as she heard Noelle calling out her next attack. **_“ROAR!”_** From Noelle's side, she unleashed a tremendous breath attack of water and lightning that overcame the Captain's attack. The attack kept going and destroyed a part of the upper colosseum.

 Manga and the other Black Bulls were close to the blast. Manga had his mouth completely open as a response. “HOLY CRAP!”

Even Zora was in shock of how powerful the attack was. “What the hell kind of power is that?”

Back at the arena, the dust began to clear up. Once it did, it was revealed that Noelle was still in her Lightning Sea Dragon mode and over to Mereoleona, Leopold’s eyes widened at what he saw. His sister’s left arm was completely damaged. It was a surprise to every Magic Knight and the captains. Mereoleona lightly growled as she looked over at her arm. Just briefly before Noelle did her attack, she tried to move to the right to avoid it but her left arm was caught in the attack before she could fully avoid it. The Captain moved her fingers and wrist to see if they were still functioning. Albeit a little shaky, it seemed she could still use it. She could still feel a slight tingling sensation in her arm. _“To think an attack like that can go through my Mana Skin.”_ She turned her attention back to Noelle. _“I didn’t think the brat could have a power like this.”_ She grinned at the challenge before her.

She then saw Noelle put up both of her arms to her right side and lightning began to form in-between them. At the same time, water began to swirl around the lightning as it took shape of a spear. **_“LIGHTNING SEA DRAGON’S ATLANTIC HALBERD!”_** She yelled as she tossed the attack right at Mereoleona. The Captain gritted her teeth as she had little time to react. Rather than using her left arm, she pulled back her right arm with fire enveloping her fist and yelled while punching the attack head-on. The fire appeared and consumed the attack but Mereoleona could still feel how powerful the attack was. She could that same tingling sensation from before. The Captain had to use more fire than usual to completely destroy the attack. She would not underestimate the strength of Noelle's attacks again. Or so she thought when she saw Noelle coming at her by air with water circling around her right and lightning covering her left. “WATER CYCLING AROUND AT ONE END AND LIGHTNING SPARKING AT THE OTHER! THESE TWO ELEMENTS SHALL JOIN TO CREATE…” Mereoleona had fire coat her entire body and jumped toward her opponent. Noelle yelled once again as she slammed hands together and with them, both the water and the lightning crashing into the Captain. Both elements combined and completely trapped Mereoleona in a monumental whirlpool of water and lightning. **_“LIGHTNING SEA DRAGON’S TYRANT WHIRLPOOL!”_** The fire Mereoleona had covering her was snuffed out let out a painful scream muffled by the electrified water. Unfortunately for the Captain, Noelle wasn’t done with her yet. The water clad lightning took the form of a trident. **_“LIGHTNING SEA DRAGON’S PIERCING TRIDENT!”_** She began her descent right at her own attack with her next attack ready. Noelle dived right into her own attack and struck Mereoleona right at her stomach. A lightning bolt first appeared in the middle then several more came out and destroyed the electrified whirlpool. Noelle roared as she pushed all the way through with her attack and sent Mereoleona back crashing into the ground. At the exact moment, another bolt of lightning struck her. Lily became frightened at the sight and sound of it. While still airborne, Noelle brought both of her arms to her right side again and water and lightning began to circle around her. **_“DRAGON SLAYER’S SECRET ART REVISION!”_** The water and lightning surrounded her arms and swiped both arms together in a circular fashion across. **_“AZURE WRATH: LIGHTNING SURGE VORTEX!”_** A major torrent of electrified water was sent spiraling down and grew in massive volume as it struck Mereoleona and the ground around her. The electrified vortex shot up into the air like before but in greater strength this time.

The attack lasted for a good few seconds before completely vanishing and Noelle landed on the ground as her Lightning Sea Dragon Mode faded away. She and everyone saw the complete destruction and damage she did to the Captain. They all saw Mereoleona lying on the ground not moving. It seemed the damage she'd taken was extensive and her robe was in tatters. The Magic Knight Squads were completely silent while the Fairy Tail members were grinning at one of their own’s victory. Noelle sighed as the fight was finally over. Then an enormous column of fire shot up into the air from where Mereoleona was. Noelle couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “No way! She still can’t be…”

Gray and the others were in the same state of shock. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Even after taking all of Noelle’s attacks, she’s still going?”

The column of fire ceased and Mereoleona was standing once again. Her squad cheered at her comeback. Noelle was speechless at the woman before her. Mereoleona grabbed what remained of her robe and took it off. She tossed the remains away and glared intensely at her opponent. “Congratulations brat. You’ve just earned a very gracious reward from me.” The entire area around them began to glow white. Noelle took a step back as she had a very bad feeling of what was about to come. Mereoleona pulled both her arms back roared fiercely. **“MANA ZONE: CALIDUS BRACHIUM COMBO ATTACK!”** What Noelle felt next was a barrage of white-hot punches coming from all sides and attacked her from all sides. Each hit was searing hot and Noelle felt each and every one of them. “FROM ME TO YOU BRAT! HOPE YOU ENJOY BEING BEATEN TO AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE!”

None of the Fairy Tail members knew what was going on but Zora did. _"Mana Zone. It's an ability that allows the user to bring the surrounding mana under their command. In the zone, its user is able to release magic greater than their own. Every sense is heightened and the user is granted greater mana and_ _is able to move freely throughout the zone. That girl is done for.”_

Mereoleona continued her onslaught of attacks upon Noelle. She wasn’t going to stop until Noelle was unable to move anymore. Noelle was completely enveloped in the countless attacks until her body was no longer visible for anyone to see. Mereoleona pulled back her right arm one more time and unleashed one more immense white fiery punch in the shape of a lion’s paw and struck Noelle’s entire body. The attack traveled all the way to the other side of the colosseum and crashed into the wall. Cracks splintered around the impact site and the ground shook for a brief momentIt seemed to everyone that Mereoleona was the victor of the fight. Her squad certainly thought so as they cheered at her victory.

Seeing Noelle in such a state depressed Alice. It was almost too much to bear to watch any longer. “Oh, Noelle.” Not once had she seen the person she looked up to be in such a state.

Mereoleona looked down at Noelle for the last time and closed her eyes. “You know, for a brat, you actually put up a decent fight.” She turned around and took one step away.

“No…elle…” The Captain stopped and opened her eyes as she turned around. she could’ve sworn she heard something. Mereoleona took a closer look at Noelle and saw her fingers twitch slightly. If that wasn’t unbelievable enough, she saw those fingers curl up and her arms shift inward. The cheering had stopped and everyone saw Noelle struggling to stand up.

Zora thought such a thing would be impossible for her do after taking a multitude of attacks from Mereoleona. _“How? How could she still move? No one should get up after taking attacks like those.”_

Noelle was finally able to stand up although barely and was breathing heavily. Despite that, she gave an intense look at the older woman. “My name is…Noelle Dreyar…you stupid lion bitch.”

Alive and the other guild members were ecstatic that Noelle was still kicking. Manga, on the other hand, thought she was pushing her luck. “Come on. Hasn’t this chick figured out by now she can’t win this?” Although uninterested at first, Noelle did grab Yami’s attention now.

Noelle’s body was battered, exhausted, and was barely conscious but she refused to accept defeat by the woman in front of her. “I…am a member of the Fairy Tail guild and…” Arms shaky, her hands closed tightly and took in a deep breathe. “I AM THE SEA DRAGON SLAYER! IF YOU WANT TO DEFEAT ME, YOU’RE EITHER GOING HAVE TO BREAK EVERY BONE IN MY BODY OR KILL ME!”

Her message reached everyone in the colosseum loud and clear. Natsu and the rest of the guild members felt proud hearing her say that. When Yami heard that, he laughed loudly which was strange to his subordinates. “Um…Yami, sir?” Manga had no idea why his Captain was laughing.

Yami laughed a little more before having a dumb smile on his face. “You know, I kinda like this kid.”

Everyone in the Black Bulls wasn't certain what they heard from his was right. "WHAT!?" 

Yami grinned as he respected Noelle’s declaration. _“Refusing to admit defeat even when it’s right in front of her. Let’s see you overcome your limits kid.”_

Mereoleona was unimpressed by Noelle’s words but she could respect the girl’s tenacity. Unfortunately, that may be the one thing that’ll be her undoing. “Fine, have it your way but whatever happens to you ain’t my fault. You brought it upon yourself.” 

Noelle chuckled as she smiled at her opponent. “I guess I’ll have to go all out on you. Time for you and the rest of your Magic Knight pals to see what a dragon slayer can really do.” She brought her arms ups and an aura appeared around her. That aura increased in volume vastly and so did her magic power. “You’re about to find out the hard way of what happens when you underestimate Fairy Tail!” A large column of water appeared around her and traveled upward into the sky. Mereoleona didn’t know what the younger girl was planning but she wasn’t going give her a chance to fight back. She pulled back both of her arms and attempted to attack again when she saw a gargantuan arm come out of the water column followed by another. Both of which created thunderous sounds upon gripping the ground and they had fin-like appendages going up the middle of the arms. Upon a closer look, they looked to be similar to lizard arms but something was off about them. Two hind legs appeared from behind as well as a tail and attached to the wall. Finally, the rest of the column burst and the main body appeared. Giant wings spread apart and head of the beast had two fin-like appendages s attached to each side of the head and one on top with glowing red eyes to complete the look.

Everyone in the Magic Knight Squads had never seen anything like it before. Vangeance sensed incredible magic power coming from the beast and knew what it was. He had heard tales but didn’t think their existence was possible. _“Is that truly…a dragon?”_ The dragon soon vanished and was replaced by Noelle but she appeared to be different this time. Blue scales covered up to her forearms and thighs and some made diamond-like edges on her sides. Like the beast, two fin-like appendages were attached to her arms going outward from the wrists and one each on the back of her legs. Those same scales covered each side of her face and neck all the way to the top of her shoulders. _“Her appearance…has drastically changed!”_ That was when Vangeance figured out that the dragon above her wasn’t a real one but a manifestation of her magic power.

While the Magic Knights had no idea what was happening, the members of Fairy Tail did. Particularly, it was a form both Erza and Wendy saw Noelle use when they were all fighting against one of the strongest of the Spriggan Twelve, the Scarlet Despair, Irene Belserion. Noelle had entered her Dragon Force. Laxus smiled as he knew this fight was as good as done for her opponent. “NOELLE!” Everybody in the stands looked over at him as he put his right arm up with his hand shut tightly. “SHOW THIS LION WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GO UP AGAINST A DRAGON FROM FAIRY TAIL!”

Noelle’s response was roaring loudly similar to a dragon’s roar. She crouched down slightly and launched herself right at her opponent. Before Mereoleona could react, Noelle was already in front of her and pulled back her arm. She yelled as she delivered a powerful punch straight to Mereoleona's face. A booming noise could be heard from the impact and small whirlwind appeared from around them. A second later, the ground beneath was destroyed in forming a crater. That crater grew larger a second time and then spread throughout the arena and the cracks traveled throughout the walls all the way to the balconies. The attack sent the Captain away from her skidded into the ground until she fully crashed. Her head throbbed with pain as she shakily stood up from the attack she received. She placed her right hand on her face and removed it to see blood on her palm. Seeing the sight made Mereoleona grin and laughed joyfully. She grinned gleefully at the dragon before her. “To think you had something like this up your sleeve all along! Let’s see you do against this!” The area around them became white again as she pulled her arms back once more. **“MANA ZONE: CALIDUS BRACHIUM COMBO ATTACK!”** She performed her barrage of attacks once more upon Noelle as all of them were coming at her from every side.

 As all of them neared Noelle, she spread her arms apart and water appeared around and spread quickly and grew in size just as much into a large dome of raging water swirling all around. **“SEA DRAGON’S LAIR!”** All of the attacks struck the dome instead and none of them had come close to reaching Noelle.

Seeing a tactic like that surprised Mereoleona as her fire should’ve easily evaporated the water that was protecting her but wasn’t. It could’ve been due to the amount of magic power behind it. In that dome, she saw something coming at her. The Captain dispelled her Mana Zone and pulled back her right arm again. She thrust it forward and her fist collided once again with Noelle’s. The dome behind him burst and water was scattered everywhere. Mereoleona still kept that grin from before as fire ignited around her fist. “Okay, so you have the power but can you keep up!?” She pulled back her left arm this time and fire ignited around her other hand. Noelle mirrored the same move with her right with water surrounding it and the two stuck each other again with their other fists. They did so again and again and again until their attacks became a flurry of fast punches that canceled each other each time they connected with one another. Each hit of their fists hitting each other caused a loud bang every time with a small yet intense burst of fire and water. Neither of them was letting up and gave everything they had. Soon their attacks became too fast for almost anyone to see.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the fight before them and Zora had no idea what he was watching now. “This is insane. We’re not even seeing two people fight anymore. We’re seeing are two beasts battling it out.”

Laxus heard that and decided to call him out. “Hey, you with the freaky mouth mask! You’re wrong!” Zora turned to him and wondered how did hear him in the first place.” Laxus glanced over at his direction. “This isn’t two beasts fighting each other! It’s a dragon fighting against a beast!”

Zora didn’t a response to what Laxus had told him. “A…dragon?”

While Noelle was keeping up with Mereoleona, her mind flashed back to three certain challenges that had happened in her life. _“Freed…”_ An image of her lying on the ground with Freed standing in front of her back when the Battle of Fairy Tail Laxus did happen. " _That god slayer from Grimoire Heart…”_ A second image showed of her struggling fighting against Zancrow at Tenrou Island. _“And that demon from Tartaros…”_ A third image appeared of her fighting the demon Tempester back at the destroyed Alegria and being saved by Laxus. _“They were all opponents I couldn’t defeat at one time but as time passed, I grew stronger. I defeated Freed during the S-Class Wizard Trials…”_ An image showed Noelle celebrating her victory over Freed. _“I was able to defeat that god slayer from Lamia Scale…”_ Another image appeared as Noelle used her Lightning Sea Dragon Mode and was able to overcome Chelia and her self-healing magic. _“Most of all, I was able to defeat that Tartaros demon!”_ A final image showed her fighting a revived Tempester in her newly acquired Dragon Force at the battle to liberate Hargeon from Alvarez. _“Not just them either. Every opponent and enemy I’ve faced from before._ Several more images appeared like her fight against Gajeel to take revenge of what he did to the guild, the fight against King Faust’s Dorma Anim with Natsu and the others, the other members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, facing off Oración Seis, the fights in the Grand Magic Games, fighting against Atlas Flame with Laxus, taking Alvarez head-on, battling against one of the strongest of the Spriggan Twelve, Irene, and finally, putting an end to Acnologia with the other dragon slayers. _“They were all obstacles I’ve come across and had to overcome and this woman is no different. I will push through and win!”_

Over to Mereoleona, she was actually having the time of her life. This girl she was fighting, she had exceeded her expectations and more. She couldn’t remember the last time she had this much fun fighting against someone like her. During their stalemate, once Mereoleona pulled back her left arm again, a brief sudden pain shot out and momentarily stopped. She winced at the pain and quickly glanced at her arm. _“My left arm. Did her attack from earlier do that much damage to it?”_

Noelle took advantage of the brief moment and roared powerfully as she unleashed a torrent of punches upon Mereoleona with everything she had starting with the right side of her face. All of the punches were then landing everywhere on the Captain’s body. **“SEA DRAGON’S HYDRO BARRAGE!”** Mereoleona’s body was being pounded relentlessly by the series of punches. Noelle delivered a blow right from under Mereoleona’s chin from her left fist and the pulled back her right arm. Water surrounded her arm and yelled as she struck Mereoleona’s stomach with her attack. However, her attack didn’t stop there as the water continued to be expelled from her elbow and two were propelled into the air. **“SEA DRAGON’S RISING WATERFALL!”** Everyone saw them go higher and higher and as they did, Mereoleona yelled while Noelle continued to roar. “PHANTOM LORD, LAXUS AND THE THUNDER LEGION, EDOLAS, GRIMOIRE HEART, ORACION SEIS, THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES, THE ECLIPSE DRAGONS, TARTAROS, ALVAREZ, THE SPRIGGAN TWELVE, ZEREF, AND ACNOLOGIA! COMPARED TO ALL OF THEM...” Noelle fully finished her attack all the way through and Mereoleona separated briefly from her. Noelle then struck her once again in the stomach with her left fist which created a resounding boom. “YOU’RE NOTHING!” She added more force behind the attack and catapulted Mereoleona straight back to the ground below them. Mereoleona quickly crashed into the ground while Noelle remained above her in the air. She put both arms in front with her hands open while her wrists were touching each other. Noelle had a furiously determined look in her eyes.  **“DRAGON SLAYER’S SECRET ART!”** Nine large streams of water appeared from behind and took the shape of serpent heads.

From below, all Mereoleona could do now was stare at the dragon slayer that was above her. Strangely enough, all she could do was smile contently at her for some reason as she saw another person similar to Noelle in her place. _“You would be proud of her, Acier. Your daughter has grown so strong.”_

**“AZURE WRATH: RAGING HYDRA!”** Noelle sent all nine serpent heads roared as they were sent towards Mereoleona. They all traveled at a blinding speed and they all impacted on Mereoleona at once. A voluminous column of water shot up and rain sprayed everywhere not a second after. Noelle landed on the ground with a strong thud and stood in front of the column as the rain drenched her completely.  As soon as the column dissipated, everybody saw what was the end result of Mereoleona. She appeared to be completely unconscious with her mouth agape and a blank expression in her eyes while her arms and legs were sprawled out. Her body soaked through and through due to Noelle’s attack. There was no doubt about it this time. Captain Mereoleona Vermillion of the Crimson Lion Squad was truly defeated.

Alice and the other Fairy Tail members cheered at Noelle’s victory while the rest of the Magic Knights are witnessing the absolute impossible.  All of them had never seen such a sight before. While some of them were bewildered by Mereoleona's defeat, Asta had a very different reaction for a different reason. While he thought it was unreal he saw someone as powerful as Mereoleona be defeated, he couldn't help but admire the magic Noelle used throughout the entire fight. "Whoa, that was so cool! Really cool! Like beyond cool! I didn't know water magic could be like that! So awesome!"

Luck shared his enthusiasm and felt very excited after seeing the fight end. “That looked so fun! I bet fighting a dragon would be a fun fight!”

Zora was the most baffled out of them. In all of his studying, not once had he seen anything like this before. _“You’ve gotta be kidding me. That woman actually lost? To a person like that girl?”_ He shook his head at that thought. _“No, I wouldn’t quite call her a person because no normal human being could do that to Mereoleona. If this is what one of these Fiore wizards can do, then what else are the rest of them capable of?"_

Yami had to admit he was quite impressed with what Noelle did. It wasn't every day he got see a fight like this before. _“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this. It did take a dragon of all things to put a wild animal like her down. And something tells me…”_ He glanced over to the rest of Fairy Tail guild members. _“She’s not the strongest one in the group.”_

Leopold and the rest of the Crimson Lion squad were in a state of absolute shock seeing their captain/sister defeated like this. Leopold felt like his whole world shattered before his eyes. _“Sis lost? That’s never happened before. She never loses!”_ And yet he saw his older sister lying on the ground unmoving. The sight of it hurt him deeply. He couldn’t imagine the reaction of his older brother, Fuegoreon if he saw the same sight as he did.

Nozel’s focus was all on Noelle how as there was no doubt in his mind of who she really was. _“This girl…is she actually…”_

Vangeance felt very content with what he'd seen today. He rather became interested in the kind of magic Noelle wielded and wanted to see what the other Fiore wizards can do. "This has all become rather interesting."

During throughout the whole battle, Yuno closely observed and studied Noelle’s magic. After seeing what it could do, it seemed there was much more to the Fiore wizard’s magic than he thought. _“So, this is what wizards from another kingdom can do.”_

From atop of the colosseum, Julius couldn’t stop smiling at the fight he saw. It truly was something spectacular for him to witness. Never before has seen such awesome and powerful magic before. _“The kind of magic these Fiore Kingdom wizards have, they’re incredible. I really want to learn more about them and the kind of magic they all have.”_

While everyone in Fairy Tail cheered, none of them felt prouder than Alice. She couldn’t stop smiling at her best friend’s hard-earned victory. _“Noelle, you really are incredible. I’m so happy I first saw you back at Edolas.”_

Laxus felt the same as the Exceed. He couldn’t help but look back at the first time he saw Noelle as an infant placed in front of the guild to who she is now. He began to remember small details about them and how she became a dragon slayer in the first place. _“From now on, I’ll be Noelle Dreyar!”_

_“You can’t just take my last name and use it as your own!”_

_“I just did so there!”_

_“Noelle, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Forgive me for doing this.”_

_“Hey, Natsu! Check it out! I’m a dragon slayer too now!”_

_“What? No, you’re not! How can you learn dragon slayer magic without learning from a dragon?!”_

_“I just do so now we’re equal!”_

_“No, we’re not! You’re nothing but a fake dragon slayer!”_

_“I’ll show you fake!”_

_“Laxus…”_

_“I know gramps but I didn’t have a choice.”_

_“What’s important now is that she’s safe.”_

One certain memory he remembered was when he, Noelle, Alice, and the rest of the Thunder Legion were having dinner while training for the Grand Magic Games. _“Hey, Noelle.”_  

_“Yeah, Laxus?”_

_“Why is it you still want to be around me? Considering what I did before and what I tried to do to yo-”_

_“I don’t care about that now”_ Noelle interrupted her brother. _“Yeah, you acted like a major prick in the past but even so, I still consider you as my brother. I still look up to you. Although, I’m really glad you did change for the better.”_ Noelle gave Laxus a heartwarming smile. _“Let’s do our best together.”_ She raised her arm and closed her hand to offer Laxus a fist bump. Laxus smiled at the gesture and gladly returned the fist bump.

Laxus felt glad he could see Noelle grow up into a stronger person right before his eyes. This victory was yet another stepping stone for her. _“I’d expect nothing less from my kid sister.”_ Noelle panted heavily as she looked down at her defeated opponent. She took in a deep breath as her hands closed tightly. Noelle closed her eyes and let out a triumphant draconic sounding roar. 

As Mereoleona remained unconscious, the sound of a baby crying rang through her mind. _“Look at her. She’s so beautiful. My precious Noelle. Mereo, may I please ask you of this? Take my daughter away from here as far as you can as she was the only free choice I had in my life. The family cannot know about her for I fear the worst would happen to her. I have heard there lies another kingdom to the south beyond the sea unlike our own. I believe it was called…Fiore. Take Noelle there and put her in a home where she’ll be loved.”_

And so, a young Mereoleona accepted her teacher’s final request and traveled south of the sea to seek out this Fiore kingdom. After bribing a captain with a huge amount of Yule to use his boat, sailing an open ocean for over a week, doing her best to care for a crying Noelle, finally arriving at the Fiore Kingdom, and receiving directions from a mysterious stranger, she’d finally reached the end of her journey. That end led her to the town of Magnolia and before her, the Fairy Tail guild. Mereoleona gave the sign a good look before scoffing at the name. _“Fairy Tail. What moron thought up of a name like that? It doesn’t matter anyway.”_ She kneeled and placed a small basket with a sleeping Noelle in it. Beside her was a letter with her name written and her date of birth. _“I don’t know if that guy was right about this place but if it’s the best place where she’ll be raised, then I’ll take my chance with it. Even if the name does sound stupid.”_ She’d done her final task for Acier but for some reason, Mereoleona felt a little melancholic about leaving the young infant even if she did cause quite the grief to her. _“At this point, I believe Acier isn’t among the living anymore and it is because of you. I know I should blame you, hate you for it but that seems a little harsh on a kid like you. I believe, she doesn’t want you to feel sad that you were the one that ended her life so I’ll respect that as her final wish.”_

Mereoleona thought it was time to go but she felt like she could give the infant one last gift before she departed. She smiled as she thought of a gift that would greatly suit the young infant girl. Mereoleona reached around her neck and removed a locket over her head. She placed the locket carefully next to the letter. _“That was a gift given to me from your mother and now, I pass it along to you. At least, you’ll know what your mother will look like. I wonder how you’ll turn out. It’s too bad you won’t know what your real home will be like.”_ Just as she spoke of that, a random thought crossed her mind and chuckled. _“How about this. If by some ridiculous miracle you come back to the Clover Kingdom, I’ll challenge you to a fight to see how strong you’ve become. That’s only when you’ve grown and become strong. A word of warning, though, I won’t hold back on you. I’ll look forward to that day, even if it is a wild dream.”_ It was time now. Time for Mereoleona to leave and head back to the Clover Kingdom. _“Goodbye, Noelle and even though you’ll never meet your mother, I just want you to know that she’d always loved you.”_ Her right hand extended to Noelle’s head and gently caressed it one more time. Mereoleona pulled her hand back and placed in front of Noelle’s head. She pulled back her index finger and gave the infant a light flick to the forehead. The hit caused Noelle to stir and opened her eyes. She saw nothing in front of her and began to cry loudly.

Mereoleona hid behind a corner from one of the buildings and waited for someone to come out of the guild. She didn’t have to wait long as she saw an elderly man of the shortest stature she’d seen exit the guild. _“What on Earthland is making that noise?”_ She saw him notice Noelle and walked up to her. _“Now who left you here?”_ Soon other members including a kid came outside and other people.

They made small conversation about who left a baby in front of their guild and why a parent would do such a thing. Mereoleona scoffed at that part. _“Like any of you would understand.”_ She listened to them a little longer and heard that they’d take her in and that was all she needed to hear. The people and the kid went back inside the guild with Noelle in one of their arms and Mereoleona was about to leave when she gasped as she saw the elderly man looking her way. She retreated to the corner and wasn’t sure about what she saw. _“Did that old man see me?”_

_“Grandpa? Are you coming back inside?”_

Mereoleona heard that same kid again. There was silence for several seconds before he gave a response. _“I am. This old man thought he saw something just now.”_ She took that as her cue to leave. Mereoleona took one step forward and never looked back.

The years went by for Mereoleona. As they did, several important events happened in her life. Just as she thought, Acier did indeed pass away while she was journeying. Mereoleona then left the royalty life for a brief time and lived off the land with no rules or restrictions. Every year on November fifteenth, she would look up at the bright starry night sky while enjoying some cooked meat and alcohol while bathing in a hot spring. It was on this day her thoughts would be about Noelle. _“I wonder how Noelle is doing now. That brat’s gotta be eighteen today.”_ More years passed and by the request of the Wizard King, she was made into the next captain of the Crimson Lions as her younger brother Fuegoreon was put into a coma after an enemy defeated him and took his arm as well as his pendant. She would make sure to make this person pay for what he'd done to him. One day, she was summoned just as all the other captains were. Mereoleona thought it was nothing more than a pain and a waste of time. _“What the hell could be so important for that bastard to summon all of us for?”_

All of the captains arrived in a room where Julius was and some colorful characters behind him. He smiled at their arrival. _“Ah, glad for all of you to arrive. We have some special guests with us today.”_

He moved aside for everyone to see. Some of them didn't care for them and neither did Mereoleona. That was when she silently gasped when her eyes fell on to one particular person. The girl among the group was none other than Noelle, grown up and looking similar to her former teacher, Acier. The thing is, she appeared to be much younger than Mereoleona anticipated like her current age didn’t make sense at all to her. She found it quite hard to believe. _“There’s no way. That can’t be her. She’s supposed to be in her early twenties by now.”_

One of the guests took a step forward and bowed to them. _“It’s quite an honor to meet all of you. My name is Erza Scarlet and we are wizards from the guild Fairy Tail hailing from the Fiore Kingdom. We’d hope to discuss something important with you concerning your kingdom and one of our own.”_

As of now, Mereoleona didn’t care about that. She was too wrapped up in seeing Noelle again after all this time. _“Damn it.”_  She realized something important and dreadful. She glanced over at Nozel who didn’t seem taken aback seeing his unknown younger sister. Mereoleona knew it wouldn’t take long for him to recognize her so she did the only thing she could think of. A lion paw made out of fire came out from her and reached over to grab the top of Noelle’s head. Everyone was caught off guard by this and the paw dragged Noelle back to her. Mereoleona had to put up a façade in front of everybody. _“Wizards from a different kingdom huh? Isn’t that interesting. How about you and I have a fight to see what you’re made of.”_

Her sudden declaration confused Noelle. _“Wait, why do you want to fight me all of a sudden?”_

Mereoleona flashed a toothy grin at the younger girl. _“Because I said so. You got a problem with that, brat?”_

Julius thought that was a fine idea and he would get to see what magic from another kingdom would be like. He clapped his hands together in excitement. _“A wonderful idea. This would be a great way to see what wizards from another kingdom can do.”_ His word was final and everyone had to follow that.

Mereoleona released her fire lion paw spell and set Noelle down while still grinning at her. _“You heard him. Hope you’re ready unless you want to get destroyed.”_

Noelle glared at the older woman as she was determined to make her eat those words. _“Fine then, you’re on. I’ll show you what a Fairy Tail member can do!”_ Mereoleona was glad to hear that as she looked forward to their fight. It was time she’d fulfilled that promise to Noelle all those years ago.

**A/N: Yes, I’m aware of the age change but I did my best to adjust. Believe me, this was the better of the two options I had while working on this since it was closest following canon concerning Mereoleona.**

 


End file.
